Although we miss the adventure of our life on the road, it has indeed been a pleasant adjustment to sedentary life indoors.
Our small one bedroom apartment is in the posterior portion of the gorgeous Victorian home above. It is located in south Glasgow in a neighborhood called Pollokshields, which is one of the largest Victorian Suburbs in Britain. Glasgow had its heyday in the Victorian era, whereas Edinburgh's was in Georgian times, and this is reflected in the architecture.
Wow! A refrigerator, stove, and dishes! We are in heaven!
There's loads of stuff to do in Glasgow!
The staircase leading up to the tower at Charles Renne Mackintosh's lighthouse in downtown Glasgow. We forgot to count the steps, but nonetheless the view was superb.
Suddenly we realized just how big Glasgow was!!! Sprawling out in every direction, the city is home to some 590,000 Glaswegians. We are proud to be joining their ranks, at least for a short while!
Ornate stonework over the door frame of The Lighthouse.
The Scotland School, designed by Charles Renne Mackintosh, is just down the road from our home.
It was constructed in 1903 and was actively used as a school until the 1980's. The grandmother of our landlord was a teacher here. It has since been turned into a museum that illustrates school life through the centuries. Featured above is the home economics room where young women learned to be home makers in the early 1900's.
Inspired immensely by designs in nature, Charles Renne Mackintosh was known for immaculately designing his buildings' interiors, down to the fireplaces, furniture and fixtures.
Beautiful and ornate stonework on the exterior of the school building.
The Mackintosh festival celebrating the life and works of this amazing architect and artist happens to be taking place in Glasgow for the entire month of October. We were lucky to find a tour of the willow tea rooms (another of Mackintosh's creations) complete with high tea for a mere 5 pounds!
The coffee and scones were fantastic! And the decore in the "room de luxe" was bedazzling. The ladies of high society Glasgow would pay a whole penny extra to have tea in this special room in the early 1900's.
We could have stared at the incredible stain glass doors for hours.
The intricate details were mesmerizing....
And delightful.
This lovely fountain in Kelvingrove park features Queen Victoria. We bike through Kelvingrove Park nearly every day on our way to piping lessons, or a museum, or the library, or somewhere else exciting!
We were on the pedestrian mall on Buchanan Street when suddenly there was this outrageous sound, a flash of light, and Whammo!!!
Funnily, it was gone the next time we were on Buchanan Street, two days later. Wonder where it is now?
Walking along Buchanan street, you are bound to hear one street musician or another.... or several!
We made a terrible discovery: a most wonderful violin shop with a cello and viola room. We didn't let ourselves try any of the instruments on the wall for fear of what we may do if we were to fall in love with one of them!
Last view of the purple bikes- we are painting them with gold and gray spray paint to deter theives. We figure of our bikes are ugly they may not be such attractive targets.
Stay tuned for future updates about life in Glasgow!!!
13 October-31 October: out and about in Glascow. Visited many of our local sites in Polluckshields, as well as greater Glascow. Made friends at the College of Piping, the Glascow Fiddle Workshop, and several local tradional music sessions at pubs (namely the Islay Inn and Babbity Bowsters). Learned to navigate the city streets on bicycles. Joined a Scottish Country Dance class.
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